The National Open Pairs was the first national bridge championship for open pairs and was held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC) as a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event.

History

Inaugurated in 1928 and contested for the Cavendish Trophy, the event lost its national rating after the 1962 NABCs being displaced by the Blue Ribbons Pairs event, renamed the Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1999. The Open Pairs carried on as a secondary eventA secondary event is one held at a national tournament concurrently with a championship event. They are open to players eliminated from the major events and to new players, are usually two sessions long and carry a regional rating. at fall NABCs until 1971 when it was discontinued.

Winners

Two Open Pairs champions successfully defended that title: Willard Karn–P. Hal Sims in 1932 and Helen Sobel–Margaret Wagar in 1948. The last winner of the Open Pairs as a premier event, B. Jay Becker–Dorothy Hayden in 1962, also won the first Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1963. No other partnership won the Open Pairs twice.

Jane and Lewis M. Jaeger won the Open Pairs as a married couple in 1945; they were also the first married couple to become Life Masters.

Since Sobel and Wagar won in 1947 and 1948, no pair of women has won either the Fall National Open Pairs to 1962 or the Blue Ribbon Pairs from 1963. Mary Jane Farell and Marilyn Johnson alone won the equally prestigious Life Master Pairs as partners, in 1978.

+ National Open Pairs, 1928 to 1962 Year Winners Runners-up  1928  Theodore Lightner, Waldemar von Zedtwitz Ely Culbertson, Josephine Culbertson 1929 1/2. William McKenney, Ralph Richards 1/2. Hortense Evans, Mrs. Sidney Lovell 1930 Louise W. Bright, P. S. Germain B. Foster, Ann W. Loftus 1931 Willard Karn, P. Hal Sims Olga Hilliard, Louis H. Watson 1932 Willard Karn, P. Hal Sims Oswald Jacoby, Louis H. Watson 1933 Charles A. Hall, Richard M. Wildberg Sam Fry, Waldemar von Zedtwitz 1934 Charles Lochridge, Johnny Rau Harry Fishbein, Herman Goldberg 1935 Edward Hymes, Oswald Jacoby Paul D. Parcells, Charles Rilling 1936 Walter Jacobs, Ralph Kempner Allyne Paris, John R. Smith 1937   A. Mitchell Barnes, Waldemar von Zedtwitz   Phil Abramsohn, Harry Fishbein 1938 Frank E. Bubna, Mollie Funk Sonny Moyse, Helen Sobel 1939 Walter Jacobs, Albert Weiss Phil Abramsohn, Morrie Elis 1940 Charles Goren, Helen Sobel Henry Chanin, Harry Fishbein 1941 Sidney Silodor, Sally Young Phil Abramsohn, Harry Fishbein 1942 Alvin Roth, Tobias Stone   Harry Fishbein, Waldemar von Zedtwitz   1943 Ruth Goldberg, Edith Seligman Ned Drucker, Milton Moss 1944 Ambrose Casner, Ralph Hirschberg Aaron Frank, Arthur S. Goldsmith 1945 Jane Jaeger, Lewis M. Jaeger Bill Levin, Leo Roet 1946 B. Jay Becker, Sidney Silodor David C. Carter, Frances Carter 1947 Helen Sobel, Margaret Wagar Sam Fry, Ruth Sherman 1948 Helen Sobel, Margaret Wagar Peter Leventritt, Edson Wood 1949 Gardner E. Goldsmith, Charles Whitebrook B. Jay Becker, Simon Becker 1950 Mark Kelliher, Jack Kushner Leo Roet, Edson Wood 1951 Arthur Glatt, Albert Weiss Richard Kahn, Peter Leventritt 1952 Israel Cohen, Vic D. Zeve Paula Bacher, Leo Roet 1953 Byron Greenberg, Harold Rockaway David C. Carter, Curtis Smith 1954 George Heath, Paul Hodge F. Ayres Bombeck, David C. Carter 1955 Milton Q. Ellenby, Emmanuel Hochfeld Barbara Brier, Waldemar von Zedtwitz 1956 Ben Fain, Paul Hodge Norman Kay, Charles J. Solomon 1957 Lew Mathe, Edward O. Taylor Paul Allinger, Sidney Lazard 1958 John Fisher, Emma Jean Hawes Al Roth, Tobias Stone 1959 Morton Rubinow, Sam Stayman William Grieve, Emmanuel Hochfeld 1960 Oswald Jacoby, Curtis Smith Simon Becker, Eugene Davidson 1961 Phil Feldesman, Ira Rubin Jack Blair, Robert Stucker 1962 B. Jay Becker, Dorothy Hayden Eddie Kantar, Marshall Miles succeeded by the Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs

See also Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs, or Blue Ribbon Pairs, successor as premier event

Notes

Sources

"Search Results: Open Pairs (1928–1962)". ACBL. Visit "NABC Winners"; select a Discontinued NABC. "Search Results: Open Pairs (1963–1971)". ACBL. Visit NABC Winners; select a Discontinued NABC.